Shadowhunters, Demons, and Other Things Trying To Kill Magnus Bane
by jumpingdowntherabbithole
Summary: In a world where Shadowhunters and Downworlders are mortal enemies, Magnus Bane would rather just avoid them. However, this becomes impossible when three of them show up on his doorstep, demanding for him to summon a demon for them.
1. Chapter 1

Keep your nose clean, stay out of trouble, and avoid Shadowhunters. These were the rules that Magnus Bane, and most other Downworlders lived by. The Shadowhunters were supposed to keep peace from demons and other evil creatures, but they instead seemed to concentrate on the persecution of Magnus' kind. First was the name-calling and the upturned noses, then came the disappearances, and finally a series of laws making it impossible for a Downworlder to survive on the right side of the law. And just who did that benefit? The ones who enforced the law and could take what they wanted from a Downworlder as righteous "spoils of war". It hadn't happened all at once, and before anyone could react, all of the Downworld was under the Shadowhunters' thumbs, ready to crush them at the slightest provocation.

Magnus had lost countless friends to the hunters. Werewolves slaughtered for failing to register with the Institute, vampires forced into daylight because they had exposed their fangs in public, and warlocks shipped away to Alicante prisons for the practice of magic.

Since the bans on the use of "demonic" magic such as the kind Magnus was gifted with, he felt restless. It was like an itch inside of him, the untapped power he bottled up. He was angry. He had once been rich, able to win a living with his magic. He had once been able to help others with his powers. He still couldn't get a memory out of his head of a mother werewolf who had begged him to heal her son. He had refused, because it was Shadowhunter inflicted harm and word would get back. The mother had been furious, heartbroken. Magnus had been ashamed and had burned with anger as well. Over time this anger only grew, boiling itself into a heavy hatred.

That's why it was understandable when Magnus answered his door with more than a little hesitation. He had heard rumours that Shadowhunters were looking for a warlock. He had hoped that it was some _other_ warlock, but most others had gone into hiding and joined the Mundane world. Magnus refused. He was proud of who he was, even if the world hated him for it.

There were three of them darkening his doorstep, which was already dim due to the frequent power outages in his apartment complex. Before he could shut his door again, the three pushed inside. There was a tall blond who had a smug expression like he owned the place; a beautiful woman with long black hair and a wrinkled nose at the cramped and overstuffed space. Then came the third. He stepped inside hesitantly, almost as if he felt guilty about invading someone else's home. He pushed back his dark bangs and Magnus' heart jumped as he met the gaze of two electric blue eyes. Quickly, he looked away, his heart racing.

 _Looking a Shadowhunter in the eyes isn't a crime,_ he thought, _yet._

The woman picked up a hundred year old scroll and examined it half-heartedly. It seemed more like a power play than genuine interest. She wanted to make him feel uncomfortable in his own home. Magnus seethed silently. There was a reason his apartment was stuffed with every magical artifact and document he could find. Shadowhunters had tried to locate and burn as many as they could get their hands on, so Magnus had spent the last of his dwindling funds on the things, trying as hard as he could to preserve magic at all costs.

He turned to the blue-eyed one. The boy seemed the least controlling of the three and Magnus thought he could use this to his advantage. It was a game of intimidation and he'd found the weakest link. He leveled a glare at the boy, who widened his eyes, surprised. The Shadowhunter opened his mouth, as if to defend himself, but it was the blond boy who spoke.

"Warlock," he said, and Magnus turned, anger coursing through him. He hated how the Shadowhunter addressed him like a dog and how he had to answer anyway. He was powerful. He could kill this boy a thousand different ways in a fraction of a second, but there'd be hell to pay.

"We've come to your…" the boy gestured around vaguely, "home..?"

He said it as a question and Magnus wondered for a moment if wiping that superior look off the boy's face was worth his own very painful retribution. He took a deep breath and shoved his emotions down.

"Anyway, we're here because we want a favour," the boy said, "and you're going to obey,"

Magnus gritted his teeth.

"Jace," the woman chastised, "you've forgotten your manners. Magnus Bane, is it?"

Magnus didn't nod but she went on anyway.

"I'm Isabelle," she gestured to the blond boy, "this is Jace, and Alec is the one hiding in the corner,"

Both Magnus and Jace turned towards where Isabelle pointed. The blue-eyed boy, Alec, pulled his sleeves over his hands, obviously uncomfortable.

"I'm not hiding," he mumbled, "I just think this is wrong,"

Magnus finally took the chance to speak, "This? Associating with a Downworlder? Right, of course, you're worried we'll turn you to our demonic ways. We'll poison your pure, innocent soul."

He approached Alec until the Shadowhunter shrank back, "We'll teach you all our creepy crawly secrets, too. What do you say, hunter? Want to join the dark side?"

Alec's eyes were wide, and Magnus had a second of regret. He was trying to intimidate the Shadowhunter. To get them all out of his house before anyone got hurt – especially himself. But the boy had the look of a kicked puppy. Magnus had to remind himself that this was a heartless killer, not the cute boy next door.

Finally, Alec pushed Magnus back, muttering something like, "…not what I meant…"

Jace, who Magnus assumed was the leader of the group looked ready to kill Magnus for his insolence, and the warlock basked in the satisfaction of having pissed off a Shadowhunter.

"Why don't we all sit down and discuss this calmly?" Isabelle proposed.

Magnus' frustration grew. This was his home, invaded by his enemies. But there was nothing he could do.

The apartment was tiny, with two doors leading to a smaller bedroom and bathroom. The kitchen was attached to the living room that they stood in now and separated by a low counter. It stood to reason that Magnus only owned two chairs. He claimed one and let the Shadowhunters drag over the other, expecting them to squabble over who got to sit in it. He was mistaken, though, as the girl promptly took it, leaving the other two to stand behind her like a pair of bodyguards. Magnus was doubtless, however, that Isabelle had no need for a bodyguard.

"We need you to summon a demon," she stated, as if she was asking him to do something as simple as making coffee.

Magnus laughed, "Haven't you heard? Magic is illegal."

Isabelle rolled her eyes, "Let's say we let you bend the rules. Would you do it?"

"No," he said plainly, "There's no safeguard to prevent you from just running back to the institute and tattling,"

"I knew you'd say that," she sighed, "We'll swear on the angel Raziel not to report the summoning. Even if we did tell, that oath would prevent it from holding up in court."

"As if you'd give me a fair trial," Magnus muttered, but he was slightly less wary. Shadowhunters may be corrupt, murderous assholes, but they took their angel seriously.

Isabelle leaned back and withdrew something from the inside of her coat while the other two looked on.

"We can't win your trust, but perhaps we can persuade you another way," she held out a shimmering locket with a ruby pendant. Magnus felt his heart go cold. There was no way that they could have known, but still seeing the thing hurt.

 _Amor verus numquam moritur,_ he mouthed bitterly. He had been young, optimistic and rich once. Still, he could have one of those qualities back if he took the bribe. It was worth more than he'd owned in years and it might be enough for him to have a new start, far, far away from the New York Institute.

"No," he told her, surprised that his voice wasn't as shaken as he felt, "I'm not going to help _Shadowhunters_ "

He wished he could have spat at the word, but his mouth was dry, and he wasn't about to ruin his carpet wither.

"Right," said Jace, "Isabelle, your turn's over. Time for plan B,"

Two seraph blades materialized in the boy's hands. He threw one straight at Magnus, and the warlock tumbled out his chair to avoid it. He felt the regrets flood in: he should have run the second he heard they were looking for him. He should have left behind his house and his possessions and kept his life.

The blond marched over and grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up to his feet and shoving him against the wall. He heard a crash and felt a sharp pain in his hip as he hit a table and sent piles of artifacts tumbling to the ground. Before he could so much as glance over toward the damage, Jace had him pressed against the wall. He pushed on the blond's chest, but couldn't gather enough force to move him. The seraph blade was against his neck, and as he felt it dig in, he panicked.

Jace flew to the other side of the room, hitting the counter and slumping against the counter. Magnus' hands flew up to his own neck to check the damage and felt only a small trickle of blood. He felt a flood of relief until he realized what he'd done.

The blond got to his feet, a smug smile dancing on his features.

"Haven't you heard? Magic is illegal," he almost sang.


	2. Chapter 2

"What the hell was that, Jace?" Magnus heard Alec whispering furiously as the warlock gathered the materials for a summoning from their various nooks and crannies.

"It got him to obey," Jace hissed back, "Stop letting your feelings get in the way – they make you weak."

"Shut up you two," said Isabelle, "Jace, never do that again, and Alec, you should be grateful after your plan didn't pan out."

"Besides, he did use magic against me," Jace muttered, "It's demonic,"

"You provoked him, Jace!" Alec whisper-shouted, "You can't-"

"Shut up!" Isabelle hissed and the two fell back into a tense silence.

Magnus returned to the living room and dropped his armful of supplies unceremoniously. There was a moment of awkward silence among them. Magnus picked up his gigantic book of rituals.

"Alright, I've got the sh-" he cleared his throat, "I've got the stuff I need. Now who you do you want me to summon? I've got pretty much anyone you could wa-"

Jace rudely interrupted him, "This one's not going to be in your little book,"

Magnus rolled his eyes, "This is the unabridged version, dolt, I've got every demon, monster, and-"

Jace interrupted again and Magnus hoped this wasn't going to become a habit, "He's not some little Shax. We need you to summon Belial, prince of Hell,"

Magnus couldn't help himself, "Prince of hell no! I'm not summoning a Greater Demon into my apartment, that's basically suicide."

"Oh, in that case," Jace's voice was ice cold, "We'll just stroll on back to the Institute and let them know that a warlock attacked me with magic,"

Magnus wished he could attack the boy again, but he settled for flipping him off.

"Besides," Jace continued, "I thought warlocks loved Greater Demons. You two could work out some daddy issues,"

His anger flared, and Magnus crossed the room, fists raised. Jace calmly stared him down.

"Go on," the Shadowhunter said, "Try it."

Magnus wasn't sure what he would have done if Alec hadn't spoken: "Jace. Leave him alone, or I'll kick your ass myself,"

There was another moment of tension and Magnus turned away, trying to keep down his temper as he heard Jace mutter "that's what I thought," behind his back.

"If he tries to take your soul, I'm leaving you to die," Magnus grumbled.

"Honestly, I don't blame you," Isabelle stage-whispered as she handed Magnus a scroll with instructions on summoning the demon.

Magnus had an epiphany then. The girl saw him as a tool to be employed. Dangerous, but controllable. Jace saw him as some kind of rabid dog; to be taunted and provoked, but expected to always do its master's bidding. It was Alec who puzzled him. He couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Alec wasn't like the others. But that was impossible – the boy was a Shadowhunter, and that made him everything Magnus fought against. It was those eyes, blue and innocent and, Magnus had to admit, very attractive.

 _That's a dangerous train of thought,_ Magnus told himself, _best to forget it._

He scanned the scroll briefly. Typical summoning ingredients – candles, pentagram, incense, blood. His heart skipped a beat as he reread that last section. It asked for the mixed blood of two alignments, meaning his own half-demonic blood and that of a part angelic creature. The Shadowhunters. He relayed this information to the trio.

Jace quickly wrinkled his nose, "I don't want my blood tainted by a Downworlder's,"

He stepped forward anyway, though. For all his prejudice, he seemed to want to prevent any harm coming to his friends.

Alec spoke up, "Jace, I'll do it,"

Jace nodded and stepped back again and Magnus was silently relieved. The thought of Jace, sneering and aloof, helping him perform the ritual made him shudder.

"So you know," he told them, "The demon will try to get us to step into the circle. He'll have more control over Alec and I if our blood is used in summoning him,"

"Are you sure about this?" Isabelle asked Alec and he nodded.

Alec stepped forward to Magnus and he suddenly felt very exposed.

"Jace, Isabelle," he gestured vaguely to the bedroom, "Go set up the pentagram and candles. Don't worry, there are pictures – you'll do fine,"

They hesitated until Alec gave them a stern look as if to say, _I can handle myself._

Magnus fiddled with his shirt cuffs to give himself something to do other than look at Alec. He waited for the other boy to speak first, to choose a direction for their conversation.

Alec was straight to the point, "What do you need me to do?"

"Well," Magnus felt squeamish suddenly, and looked down at his hands, "We have to cut our palms and press them together and bleed on a candle. The opposing alignments of the blood attracts demons, and especially for Belial its-"

"Your turn," Alec interrupted, holding up an already bleeding palm.

"Shit, Alec," Magnus replied. Alec merely shrugged and offered his seraph blade to Alec.

"No thanks," Magnus continued, "Demon blood, remember?"

He concentrated on his palm and slowly drew a finger across it, leaving a line of blood in its wake. The pain that prickled his palm was muted by the rush of using magic again. He had to admit that even earlier, terrified for his life, letting his magic loose to throw Jace against the wall had felt like heaven in his veins.

He looked back up, "Ready?"

Alec took his hand, and Magnus winced at the blood he could feel running from between their palms. He managed to drip it on the candle, feeling slightly light headed. He then broke their grasp and had to take a deep breath. His head was swimming. He imagined that the Shadowhunter's blood had gotten in his bloodstream – not enough to cause trouble, but to throw him off balance and make him shaky. He barely had to direct his energy to his hand before the wound closed almost as if of its own volition. He took another deep breath and looked to Alec who was staring at his hand as if he'd never seen it before. It was also unwounded and Magnus realized he must have lost control of his magic. He had too much power bottled up and sometimes it leaped out.

"I…" he began, "Sorry, Alec,"

Alec's electric eyes met his own with an expression Magnus could only identify as sadness, "Thank you,"


	3. Chapter 3

Magnus' tiny New York apartment had been, over the course of a couple hours, completely transformed into what looked like a scene out of cultist's wet dream. He bit back a remark about extreme home makeovers and picked up the book of rituals.

"Alright, everyone knows the rules?" Magnus asked again.

Isabelle muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like: "yes, Mom,"

Magnus rolled his eyes, "Just don't enter the circle, no matter what. He's trapped in there but if you enter it, you'll be very vulnerable to him. You do not want a demon having complete control over you,"

"Got it," Jace sighed, "now summon the demon already,"

Magnus began chanting. He raised his free hand and it started to glow with blue light. He could feel the power flowing through him. The room went dark and suddenly he felt heavy. It was as if he was a magnet pulling the demon up into their world. He could feel the ebb and flow between the dimensions. It took all his might not to get lost in it.

To him, it felt like mere minutes, but when he opened his eyes again, the Shadowhunters had scattered. Jace was leaning against the wall, throwing a seraph blade in the air and catching it again lazily. Isabelle was sat in a chair, staring blankly into the pentagram. Almost invisible in the shadows of the apartment, Alec stood in a corner, leafing through one of Magnus' books, tension apparent in his posture. These Shadowhunters fought demons almost daily, but apparently Magnus had found their true weakness: boredom.

Jace noticed his gaze, "If the demon delivery takes any longer do we get it free?"

Magnus tasted the colourful retorts on the tip of his tongue, but bit them back. He spoke and his throat felt like sandpaper, "How long has it-"

"About two hours," Isabelle said, still staring blankly ahead. Magnus wished they'd let him finish a sentence sometime.

"That's not very good," Magnus said, "Maybe-"

Suddenly the air in his lungs disappeared. A crushing weight pushed down on him and he couldn't remember what he was about to say, or even how to speak. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Black spots filled his vision.

The pentagram started to fill with smoke and the pressure on Magnus' chest lessened just a little.

Magnus coughed violently, "You could just say hello,"

"It's more fun this way," a smooth and sinister voice proclaimed. The smoke condensed into a vaguely human figure.

The Shadowhunters gathered around the pentagram. Magnus hoped they would do whatever it was they needed quickly. He was breathing again but with difficulty. It must be that he hadn't used magic in so long. He was probably just a little rusty. _A lot rusty,_ he corrected as he coughed up what tasted like blood.

"Belial," Isabelle addressed, "We order you to answer our questions,"

The demon's laughter was nearly hysterical. He managed to control himself long enough to answer, though, "Oh, that's too good,"

He wiped away a tear of mirth, "Let me set you straight. You are a petulant child and I am a lord of Hell,"

Jace spoke up, "We- we have control of you. The warlock…"

The demon giggled again, "Him? Barely. Let me explain this so your tiny mortal brains can process it. It's as if the warlock has me on a leash that he's tied in a noose around his own neck. All I have to do is _pull_ ,"

He clenched a fist and Magnus felt his breath cut off. The demon shouldn't have this much power over him. Something was wrong, but as the room spun, there wasn't much he could do about it.

"I'm as much in control of him as he is of me."

The demon went on, but to Magnus, it was no more than white noise. He fell back but instead of the harsh floor, he felt someone catch him and lower him gently into their arms. As the room darkened, Alec's face swum in Magnus' vision. The colours were over-saturated and everything sounded as if he was underwater, but Alec's blue eyes were still beautiful and full of worry.

Magnus meant to say something helpful like: "Don't go into the pentagram", or "Get rid of the demon right now!".

What he did manage to say, however, was: "You have very pretty eyes,"

And then he passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

Languages are nuanced and diverse, culture is complex and sundry, but one thing that is universal is the expression that translates in words as "oh shit, we have screwed up big time,". This look was identical across the faces of all three Shadowhunters.

Oh shit. They had screwed up big time.

"Aww, look at that," Belial cooed, "The little warlock died."

The demon paused to laugh, before addressing Alec "Chin up, sunshine, your boyfriend's not _actually_ dead _._ He's no good to me dead. But passed out is great. Passed out is possessable,"

The figure in the pentagram snapped his fingers and was gone. A moment later, Magnus opened his eyes with a gasp. They weren't his usual yellow cat eyes, however, but instead pure black. His mouth opened in an unnatural grin and Alec dropped him in surprise and scrambled away.

In an instant, Jace had his seraph blade at the ready. He didn't make a move to attack, however.

"What are you waiting for?" Isabelle cried at the same time as Alec yelled, "No!"

Jace gritted his teeth, "I'm trying!"

He seemed to be straining against some invisible barrier.

"Whew, this warlock magic isn't half bad!" proclaimed Belial, watching Jace struggle. He didn't even bother to look up as Isabelle charged him. He froze her in place instantly.

Only Alec was left. He didn't look afraid, but he didn't attack either.

"What's wrong? Don't feel like killing a warlock today?" the demon taunted, "That's unusual,"

"Alec, kill him!" Jace managed.

Alec took a step towards the demon, cautiously, "What do you want?"

Belial shrugged, looking in every way like Magnus, "Dunno. Kill some Shadowhunters, take over some worlds, maybe a nice vacation. I hear Idris is nice this time of year."

The demon raised an eyebrow at Alec, who was now standing close enough to attack, but didn't seem interested in doing so.

"What? You aren't going to try?" the demon asked.

Alec shrugged, seeming almost relaxed, "What's the point? You'll just freeze me,"

"Why've you got your hands behind your back, then?" the demon prompted.

Alec raised his hands outward in surrender. They were empty.

The demon turned to the other Shadowhunters with a laugh, "Guess he's not the top of your class. Zero for effort. You must be really proud about-"

Alec used his outstretched hands to give the demon a sharp shove. The Shadowhunter flew backwards and crashed into the wall, but not before the damage was done.

"No!" Belial cried. He was contained inside the pentagram again and so was his power. Jace and Isabelle both stumbled as they unfroze and Alec groaned from the opposite side of the room.

One small problem: Belial still possessed Magnus. The warlock was stuck with the demon.


	5. Chapter 5

Belial clapped slowly, "Very well played, Shadowhunter. But you need a warlock to banish me, and guess what? I am the warlock,"

Jace raised a seraph blade, "Then we kill the warlock and hope for the best,"

Isabelle caught his arm, "We don't know enough. That could just set Belial free,"

"Do you have a better plan?" Jace demanded.

Belial paced in his pentagram, "Can I get some popcorn for this drama?"

"We need to kill the demon, and while he's possessing the warlock, he has his vulnerabilities," Jace reasoned.

"What if he just unpossesses Bane the moment before he dies?" Isabelle asked, "Then we have a dead warlock _and_ we're back to square one,"

"What else can we do?" Jace ripped his arm free from Isabelle, seraph blade ready, "We kill him!"

"No," Alec moaned from the corner.

Jace spun on him, "Why? Why does one warlock matter so much to you? You're acting like a mundane child."

Alec got to his feet slowly, wincing.

"Why?" he repeated, "Because we invaded Magnus' home. Because we forced him to risk his life for us. Because we, _Shadowhunters,_ have persecuted him and the other Downworlders just for being what they are,"

He slowly made his way over to Jace.

"Because we went from protecting the world to trying to control it. Because Shadowhunters are becoming the bad guys and I can't support it,"

He reached Jace and looked into the pentagram.

"Why does one warlock matter so much? Because he's a person too. And because he stands for so much more. If one life doesn't matter to us, then how can we say we're doing good? Will ten Downworlder lives matter? Will one hundred? The Shadowhunters must stand for good or I won't stand with them."

"Also," Alec continued, kneeling down next to the pentagram, "because Belial is bluffing. We don't need a warlock to banish a demon. We just need to mess up the ritual. Like cutting free a helium balloon,"

Alec blew out one of the candles and the pentagram filled with smoke again, mixed with inhuman wailing. The cacophony grew unbearably until suddenly it was deadly quiet. The smoke dissipated and all that was left was the messy apartment, three shaken Shadowhunters, a pentagram with four lit candles and Magnus Bane, immobile in the middle of the symbol.


	6. Chapter 6

Alec rushed over before he considered what he was doing. He half expected Belial to come back and murder him the moment he stepped inside the pentagram, but when nothing happened, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He knelt next to Magnus and felt for a pulse. It was weak but present, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did you know..?" Jace trailed off, for once, speechless.

Alec shrugged, "I was reading one of his books while we were waiting. Figured it could come in handy."

Alec felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Isabelle, her eyes shining as though she was holding in tears.

"Alec," she began, her voice as steady as ever, "What you said about Shadowhunters and what we've become… I agree. And I'll help you change it,"

Jace chimed in, "I might not fully agree, but you're my parabatai, and I trust you. I'll stand with you if you'll have me,"

Alec's voice cracked, "Thank you,"

And that's how Magnus Bane woke up to three weeping Shadowhunters.


End file.
